to code or not to code?

[Joel Dudley]

Don't forget the pizza!

- Joel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Harrop" <don@nis4u.com>
To: <plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us>
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2000 4:11 PM
Subject: Re: to code or not to code?


> Thanks for all the good posts!  There's nothin' like asking about which
> language is best to stir up discussion on the list.. :-)  Time to buy some
> books and some Mountain Dew!
>
> Don
>
> > On Jul 24, 12:39pm, Don Harrop wrote:
> >
> > > I was wondering if I could get some feedback on some scripting /
> programming
> > > languages to jump into for a newbie coder.  Perl seems like a good
> choice
> > > because everybody has it and there's tons of support.  You can either
> use it
> > > for web page development or linux admin stuff.  I don't know if you
can
> > > compile it to a single exacutable under DOS/WIN stuff though.  That
> would be
> > > cool.  I've listened to a few people on the list talk about python and
> it
> > > sounds good but it doesn't seem to have the same amount of support as
> Perl
> > > does.  C++ would be cool but I don't want to have to compile
everything
> > > before I can run it.  It might be overkill for a newbie.  :-)  Links
on
> > > where to go to learn the code would be nice too...
> >
> > I too think Perl is a good choice.  Some comments though...
> >
> >  - I'm not sure why you place so much importance on support.  For
> >    newbies, both Perl and Python are rock solid; I'd be *very*
> >    surprised if you encountered problems with either language that
> >    required any support at all.
> >
> >  - Compiling to an executable is overrated; don't worry about it.
> >
> >  - There are a lot of Perl books that I can recommend.  One that I
> >    know almost nothing about, but which I think you should look at is
> >    "Elements of Programming with Perl" by Andrew L. Johnson.  This
> >    book is supposedly written for folks whom Perl will be the first
> >    programming language that they learn.  If you pick it up and choose
> >    to use it to learn Perl, let me know how it goes.  See
> >
> > http://www.manning.com/Johnson/index.html
> >
> >    for more information.
> >
> >  - You may also wish to read "Choosing a Perl Book" at
> >
> > http://www.perl.com/pub/2000/06/27/perlbook.html
> >
> >  - Most of the O'Reilly Perl books are worth owning.  In particular,
> >    I recommend "Programming Perl" and "Mastering Regular Expressions".
> >    However, if you're a true programming neophyte, neither of these
> >    books will be very accessible.
> >
> >  - I also like "Effective Perl Programming" by Joseph Hall and Randal
> >    Schwartz.
> >
> >  - Books will only take you so far.  The only way to really get good
> >    at programming is to do it.  The more time you spend at it, the
> >    better you'll get.  The cool thing about Perl is that you don't
> >    have to know very much to get started.  You can start experimenting
> >    with the language almost as soon as you open a book.  (People who
> >    attempt to read an entire Perl book and then write some code are
> >    definitely doing it wrong.)
> >
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> >
>
>
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